Malaysia construction experience in deployment of crane services for construction project

Abstract

Crane usage is one of the essentials machineries in building construction projects. The accuracy of crane selection will have some influence on the project profits. Crane plays a prominent role in construction building due to its importance in lifting, transporting and handling material. However in Malaysia, there are no specific guidelines in crane selection. Therefore this study was done with the aim to review the method used in crane selection process and subsequently, identifying the problems occur due to crane selection. The methodologies adopted include interview with expert panels, case study and questionnaire survey. From the study showed that three common types of crane generally found in building construction in Malaysia are tower crane, mobile crane and crawler crane. Normal practice in Malaysia’s building construction for crane selection is based on criteria and category selection. Nonetheless, they can sometimes be very costly and thus, the right decision must be made in order to avoid any misfortunes in the long run. When hiring tower crane, selection must be done in early stage of project because the rental considered as long term cost of the company. It consume about 0.5% of project cost. Technical problems can be defined as obstruction or restriction occurred while operating a crane such as mechanical or electrical failure that may cause crane breakdown, crane overturning that may cause accident, short of power supply and many more. Non technical problems can be defined as any mistake in contractual issue that may create problem in crane’s usage. It was discovered that non-payment (financial problem) to crane suppliers has become significant impact to crane’s operation.